COLLEGE STATION – In an era of wide-open offenses and inflated scores, Texas A&M and Nebraska offered a record crowd at Kyle Field a nostalgic reminder of a nearly extinct era.

One when the Wrecking Crew and Blackshirt defenses roamed the turf. In a bruising fight of field goals, A&M made Nebraska’s final Big 12 road game quite memorable – and one the Cornhuskers would rather forget en route to the Big Ten starting next season.

The Aggies outpunched the Cornhuskers 9-6 on Saturday night before a raucous crowd of 90,079, one fueled by Nebraska’s eye-popping 16 penalties for 145 yards.

“I realized it was going to be a defensive battle, but I thought for sure one of these high-powered offenses was going to get in the end zone,” A&M senior linebacker Mike Hodges said.

He added of a steady pep talk from defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter during the game, “Coach DeRuyter kept saying the best defense was going to win. Luckily we came out on top.”

A&M (8-3, 5-2), ranked 19th in the BCS, won its fifth consecutive game, most since winning six in a row in 2004. Nebraska (9-2, 5-2), ranked eighth in the BCS, was left licking its considerable wounds in the slugfest, one that had coach Bo Pelini red-faced from yelling at officials throughout the game.

“No comment,” Pelini said afterward when asked about the calls against his team. “I’m not talking about penalties. You all watched the game.”

The Aggies shoved ahead for good on Randy Bullock’s 19-yard field goal with 3:02 remaining in the game, and then the Wrecking Crew defense went to work one final time, in stopping the Cornhuskers on a fourth-and-14 on the Nebraska 30-yard line with 1:10 remaining. On the preceding play, A&M senior Von Miller collected a sack in his final stand on Kyle Field.

As the gun sounded on the upset, white towels rained down from the upper deck, as jubilant fans celebrated during the Aggies’ annual “Maroon Out” game, and then poured onto the field and joined the team for the Aggie War Hymn. Twenty Aggie seniors played their final game at Kyle before 31,000 A&M students. “The 12th Man played a huge part in tonight’s win,” senior defensive lineman Lucas Patterson said. “It was chaos.”

Nebraska owns one of the nation’s top defenses, and its secondary is second to none. A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed 19 of 29 passes for 172 yards, and attempted less than 30 passes for the first time in his four college starts. The Aggies instead turned to the ground game in the second half, and Cyrus Gray gained 137 yards on 26 carries, including 104 yards after the break.

“We knew going in that it was going to be a battle throwing the football,” A&M coach Mike Sherman said. “They’re a heck of a defense. Cyrus wants the ball, and he wants to lead his team to victory. … If he didn’t play the game he played, we wouldn’t have been able to get those field goals.”

While Bullock connected on all three of his attempts from 29, 28 and finally 19 yards, A&M safety Trent Hunter intercepted two passes – one each thrown by Taylor Martinez and backup Cody Green. Martinez injured his right leg in the first quarter, but returned in the second half in failing to get the Cornhuskers in the end zone.

“I’ll have to look at the film, but I don’t think he played well,” Pelini said. “He did some things OK, but he missed some wide-open receivers.”

The Aggies have little time to savor the victory, considering they play at rival Texas on Thanksgiving night in the regular-season finale. Should A&M close the season with a six-game winning streak, there’s a good chance the Cotton Bowl will snatch up one of the nation’s hottest teams.

“We’ll be back (this) morning working on the Longhorns, because obviously that’s a huge game for us,” DeRuyter said. “We’ve got to keep this thing rolling.”